Ma'alot massacre

The Ma'alot massacre occurred on 15 May 1974 when three Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP) terrorists massacred 31 Israelis (including 22 schoolchildren) and wounded 70 in an attack on the northern city of Ma'alot, Israel. The massacre led to the creation of the Yamam special forces unit and the bombing of seven Palestinian bases in Lebanon.

Background
On 13 May 1974, Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine members Ali Ahmad Hasan al-Atmah, Ziyad Abdar-Rahim Ka'ik, and Muhammad Muslih Salim Dardour - dressed in Israel Defense Forces uniforms - crossed the Israeli border from the Lebanese town of Ramish, moving through the Nahal Mattat Nature Reserve. The men were armed with AK-47 assault rifles, grenades, and Czechoslovakia-made explosives, and they hid out in the Druze village of Hurfeish; Israel Defense Forces (IDF) soldiers saw their footprints in the sand, but they tracked them in the wrong direction, and they deduced that they belonged to smugglers. The terrorists hid in the village until the night of 14 May, and they headed up the winding road to Ma'alot.

Attack on Ma'alot
On the night of 14 May 1974, the DFLP terrorists came across a van carrying some Christian Arab women home from the Ata Textile Works factory, and al-Atmah ordered his men to fire on the van. They killed two people and injured one, and they proceeded to make it to the town of Ma'alot itself. The terrorists murdered a couple and their two young children, and only the deaf and mute baby survived. The attackers proceeded to ask for directions to the school, and they took 102 students at the Netiv Meir Elementary School hostage. Three teachers abandoned their 90 students to their fates by jumping out of windows and escaping, later leading to their suspensions. The students were forced to sit on the floor with explosive charges set between them, and the terrorists released a list of demands on the morning of 15 May. They demanded the release of 23 Arab prisoners from Israeli prisons and the release of Lod Airport massacre perpetrator Kozo Okamoto, with the deadline being 6:00 PM; at that point, all of the hostages would be massacred.

School shooting
At 5:25 PM, Sayeret Matkal Golani Brigade commandos planned a rescue operation, with snipers laying down fire as commandos entered the building. At 5:32, the first three-man team of Sayeret Matkal commandos entered the building, and a series of mistakes ensued. The team threw a phosphorus grenade onto the second floor hallway to create a smokescreen, blinding the second team of commandos. When the commandos entered the classroom, Dardour grabbed a student and held him at gunpoint, while Ka'ik was gunned down. al-Atmah grabbed several assault rifle magazines from the teacher's desk and sprayed the students with machine gun fire before tossing grenades out of the window. When his left wrist was broken by Israeli gunfire, he threw two grenades at a group of girls huddling on the floor, killing them. al-Atmah was then killed by the commandos. A total of 31 Israelis were killed (including 22 students), while 70 were injured.

Aftermath
Israel was shocked and maddened by the massacre, and Israeli Air Force planes bombed DFLP and PFLP offices and training bases in response to the attack. Seven Palestinian refugee camps and villages were hit, killing 27 people and wounding 138. The Yamam counterterrorist unit of the Israeli police was created with the goal of preventing another Ma'alot-like catastrophe from occurring.